No More Games
by Linny27
Summary: Jack has a little errand he needs to run at the bank and Sue goes along with them.  Little do they realize that Jack's bank is about to be robbed.  It's up to the team and Jack's quick thinking to get them out of there and rescue the hostages.  Post E&B.
1. Prologue

**No More Games**

**Prologue**

"_I decided to stay."_

Those were the four sweetest words Jack Hudson had ever heard. Sue wasn't moving to New York. She was staying in DC. She was staying with him.

At those words, he's suddenly become energized. He'd pushed away his exhaustion and worries and allowed himself to enjoy the morning's festivities.

Lucy and Tara had decorated the bullpen very early in the morning, complete with streamers, balloons and the humungous "Goodbye Sue" banner that was still wet from the paint they'd used to add a slash and the words "Welcome Back" at the end.

They'd all known before him that she was staying. And of course, if he would have bothered to enter the bullpen instead of roaming the halls to find her, he would have known too. But, his mind had been set. After a long night of deliberating with himself, he knew he had to tell her everything—what she meant to him, what she meant to the team, how much they would miss her, how much he would miss her… how he loved her and never wanted to let her go…

And if Myles hadn't chosen to interrupt when he did, he would have told Sue that he loved her right out in the hallway. He'd never been more thankful for that man's inept timing.

It wasn't that he didn't want to tell her.

He did.

But, now he knew the truth. Now he could tell her what was in his heart.

He wasn't going to let another opportunity slip away.

No more turtle Jack.

No more back pedaling.

_No_ more games.


	2. Chapter One

**No More Games**

**Chapter One**

Jack was knocked out of his reverie by Bobby's hand landing on his desktop with a loud _crack._ His lost brown eyes shot up to meet the sparkling ones of his best friend.

Bobby was already slipping into his coat by the time Jack was able to register that it was happening. "Ready to go?"

Go? "Where?"

Bobby's cool green eyes didn't lose a hint of his sparkle, but they did narrow slightly in confusion. "Dinner. Day's over. We told Sue we'd take her out to dinner, remember?"

"Er…" Actually, no. He didn't remember. Of course if someone asked him what he'd eaten for breakfast and he probably couldn't remember that either. In fact… _had_ he eaten breakfast?

"You are coming, aren't you, Jack?"

Whatever fog had crept up into his mind quickly dissipated at that single question. Clearing his throat, Jack leaned back in his chair, his eyes shifting to the beautiful blonde barely visible behind Bobby's right shoulder. She was peering behind his best friend's tall frame and smiling that sweet little smile that caused his blood to pump just a little bit faster.

"Of course, you don't have to if you don't want to," Sue quickly amended. "With the week you've had, I wouldn't blame you for just wanting to go home and relax." Even as she said that, he could clearly see how it would affect her if he didn't attend dinner.

He couldn't bear to see a frown grace those beautiful lips of hers again because of him.

He would go.

Even if he fell asleep in his soup, he would go.

"Actually, I was just thinking that I could use a night out." His apartment would only remind him of the sleepless nights he'd had all this week. "I just need to make a stop on the way," he added as he stood up from his desk and reached for his coat.

"Would you mind some company? Levi could certainly use a walk before dinner."

Jack found his mouth curling into a smile as he slipped one arm into a leather sleeve. He couldn't believe how awkward the sensation felt. The bullpen had been shrouded in a somber gloom since Sue had decided to take the job in New York so smiled and laughter had been few and far between.

Especially for him.

A stress-free night with his friends/coworkers and the woman who constantly haunted his dreams was probably just what he needed to bring the Jack Hudson they all knew and—hopefully—loved back out again. And perhaps a bit of alone time with Sue would allow him to finish what he'd started out in the hallway.

He slipped his other arm into the other sleeve and settled his coat over his shoulders. "Sure. I'd love some company."

He slung his hood up around his head to shield himself from winter's icy grip upon the city. Large white fluffy flakes fluttered down from an overcast sky, only adding to the shimmering mounds of powder that already lay on the ground.

He didn't really care about the weather.

He ignored the snow as it swirled around his body and kept his focus on the building across the street.

Washington First National Trust & Loan.

That was his goal. Standing proud and tall in front of him, it was almost like the blasted building was taunting him.

He'd walked past everyday, admiring its structural design, though more than anything, he was admiring one of its clerks that could clearly be seen through the large front windows. _She _was the reason why he was standing on the outside, looking in.

Her name was Shannon. She was a goddess among mortals with long, silky legs and long flowing hair. Her eyes shined like emeralds when she smiled and her voice was so intoxicating with that sweet little accent of hers.

He ran his tongue over the pocket of his lower lip before spitting on the sidewalk.

He'd done everything possible to get closer to her; to get her to notice him. He'd sent her flowers and candy—he'd even moved his money to this specific bank so he could see her everyday.

And every time they came face-to-face, she acted like she didn't know who he was!

Growling deep within his throat, he turned away from the street and entered the convenience store.

That had been the last straw. He'd been pushed into the shadows for far too long. Now it was his turn in the limelight.

Satisfaction rolled over him like an extra soft blanket as he stepped up to the counter, one of his hands cradling the bundle hidden inside his sweatshirt. He offered the checkout girl a kind smile as he asked for a pack of smokes.

No more rejection.

"Will there be anything else?" she asked as she rang up the pack.

No more name calling.

He pulled a five-spot out of his wallet and tossed it on the counter while at the same time palming his pack. The kindness of his smile instantly sifted to something more sinister. "Yes. You're going to want to call the police. I'm about to rob the bank across the street."

No more games.


	3. Chapter Two

**No More Games**

**Chapter Two**

"You're awfully quiet, Jack," Sue said as she clipped Levi's leash back onto his collar. As they strolled through the park, it had felt like Jack hadn't even been with her. His body had been with her—which she liked—but his mind had been somewhere else.

He smiled apologetically in her direction as he slipped his hands into the pockets of his jacket. "It's been a long week."

The fatigue could clearly be seen on his features and Sue couldn't help but think she'd been the cause of some of it. "And I'm sure my yo-yoing between staying in DC and going to New York didn't help much."

She'd seen how her decision to go had affected him and she would be lying if she'd said she hadn't felt a bit smug about it at the time. He'd strung her along for three long years and he'd figuratively been slapped in the face.

Of course, he wasn't the only one to blame. She'd been just as elusive with her friendly flirting and teasing. She would give just as good as she would get from him. But during that, her feelings of friendship had turned into something much more. She'd fallen in love with the stupid turtle and she didn't know how to get back up.

"I can't say that it made my week any better," he admitted as they continued walking down the sidewalk.

A blush began creeping upon her face and her saw the apology ready in her eyes. He didn't want her apology. He didn't need it.

He held up a hand to stem the flow of words that were ready to pour out of her mouth. "Whatever you do, don't apologize," he pleaded. "There's nothing to apologize for. Anyone would be tempted to take a job like that."

She nodded in agreement as the bustle of people around them forced them closer together. The warmth of his body penetrated her thick winter jacket and it immediately reminded her of what she would be leaving behind if she had chosen New York. "It certainly was a great opportunity, but there are things that DC has that New York never will."

"And those are?"

She noticed how he stood up just a little bit taller and puffed out his chest like a proud peacock. She had to bit her lower lip to keep from laughing. New York definitely would never have Jack Hudson that was for sure. "Well, most importantly… a group of friends that I know I could never find anywhere else."

He deflated right before her eyes.

"Oh."

"What did you think I meant, Jack?" She batted her eyelashes in a not-so-innocent manner before wrinkling her nose playfully at him.

He just shook his head as he led her to the side of the crowd and toward the doors of a nearby building. "Do you mind if we make a stop on the way to the restaurant?"

Sue glanced up at the face of the building and raised a single eyebrow in interest. "The bank? Haven't you had your fill of dealing with money this week?"

He rolled his eyes with a chuckle. "More than enough. I just have to make a quick stop and check to see if everything's been cleared up. It should take maybe five minutes tops and then we can head off to meet the others at the restaurant. **Okay?**"

"**Okay**," she agreed with a nod.

"Look, Gramma! A doggy!" The excited, high-pitched voice of the little girl echoed off of the marble walls of the bank.

"That's nice, sweetheart," her grandmother replied in a bored tone. Apparently she's already had her filled of her seven-ear-old granddaughter's highly energetic enthusiasm to look at a silly dog as it passed by the window.

Not to be discouraged by her grandmother's apathy, the child skittered away from her guardian to go greet the animal as the pretty blonde lady held open the door to allow him inside. She smiled up at the lady and tucked her hands behind her back as she swayed back and forth. "Hi."

Sue spared a look in Jack's direction before she glanced down at the little pixie-sized girl with a smile. "Hi, there."

"You have a nice doggy," she pointed out, eager to reach out and pet his golden head.

"We like him," Jack teased to which he received a light slap on the arm from Sue.

Sue lowered herself to the girl's level, her smile never wavering. "His name is Levi." She noted the eager look in the child's eyes and knew the reason for her enthusiastic approach. "Would you like to pet him?"

The girl excitedly nodded and her tiny fingers were barely tangled in Levi's golden mane before her grandmother realized she wasn't still at her side. "Amelia Michelle!" she chastised, leaving her place in line to properly scold her granddaughter and apologize profusely to Jack and Sue. "I'm sorry. She's in that 'I-love-dogs' phase and she doesn't realize that she's being a bother."

Sue instantly shook her head. "Oh, she's not a bother."

But the older woman would hear none of it and promptly pulled the child back to her side. "Now apologize to this nice couple."

Amelia, looking properly scolded, stuck her lower lip out and lowered her head. "I'm sorry."

Jack watched, enraptured by her movements, as Sue reached out and placed a gentle hand upon the child's shoulder and gave a tender squeeze. "It's okay," she offered as gentle as always. "Levi always enjoys meeting new people."

That made Amelia's face light up like a Christmas tree and an adorable smile instantly graced her impish face. Her grandmother even cracked a smile; a tired one. "Thank you," she mouthed as her young charge took her wrinkled hand and waved at the three of them as they went to regain their place in line.

Jack was smiling by the time Sue got back to her feet, but it was a grin she'd never seen cross his face. She could only imagine what was running through his mind at this very moment. "What?"

"**Cute**," was all he signed to her, leaving her to stare at him in confusion as he placed his hand at the small of her back and led her away from the front doors.

The man in the hood had watched the entire scene play out before him. He'd been standing in line behind Amelia and her grandmother and noticed the couple and the dog walk through the door.

He didn't really care why the animal had been allowed inside the public building. What had really caught his attention was when the dark-haired man reached up and set his hand upon the woman's back. The overhead lights reflected against something attached to his right hip and it hadn't looked like a cell phone clip.

It didn't take him long to figure out that the man was armed. But that was okay. So was he.

Reaching into the pocket of his sweatshirt, he lifted his own weapon up into the air and fired off one shot.


	4. Chapter Three

**No More Games**

**Chapter Three**

Lucy checked her watch for the third time since she'd settled into her the booth. While the rest of the team had already arrived, Jack and Sue were still no-shows. Walking Levi never usually took this long before and she was starting to get worried. However, Jack had been pretty shaken up by Sue's insecurity about taking the job in New York. Perhaps turtle boy had made a move.

Then again.

Sue would have called if the two of them would have decided to go off together someplace where they could just be alone. And she wasn't really the type to run out on her own party, either.

The rotor frowned as she tried to get into the story that Myles was regaling the rest of the team with. Unfortunately, she just couldn't do it.

Maybe she was reading too much into Jack and Sue's absence.

"You okay, Luce?" Bobby asked as he noticed her checking her watch again.

She tried to shrug away her thoughts and just enjoy the evening, but the concern was eating her up inside. "Jack and Sue should have been here by now. I'm getting worried."

Myles decided the rest of his story could wait as he checked his own watch. "I wouldn't worry too much. Maybe they had to make a stop on the way."

"Why don't you try Sue's blackberry?" Tara suggested as she took a sip from her glass of iced tea.

Lucy's fingernails tapped nervously on the tabletop as she glanced down at her cell phone almost willing for it to receive a message. "I already did. She didn't answer."

"Well, that's not really a bad thing," D pointed out. "Both of them have had a very difficult week. They probably just need to clear the air between them."

"Maybe Sparky finally made a move," Bobby offered as he sipped from his glass, which caused interested glances to dance around the table.

"We can only wish," Myles mumbled as he buried his face behind a menu. The rest of the team could only smile as they pushed their concerns away and decided what they wanted for dinner.

"Where is our waitress?" Myles mumbled as he checked his watch and then glanced around the dining room. Cindy—their young waitress—had promised that she would be right with them to take their orders. That had been at least fifteen minutes ago and there hadn't been any sign of her since. In fact, none of the wait staff had been seen for quite some time.

"Where are Jack and Sue?" Lucy countered, her worry officially escalating far beyond concern. Her poor napkin had been tied into a knot after Myles had begged her to stop tapping her fingernails against the tabletop and her leg had begun shaking uncontrollably.

Something was wrong. She could feel it deep down inside. There was a reason why Jack and Sue hadn't shown up and as much as she would like to commiserate with the group's previous musing, she just couldn't.

"Are you still on that, Luce?" Bobby asked with a roll of his eyes.

"Well I'm sorry if you're so willing to brush it off, but it's not like them to just not show up or at least call. I'm starting to get really worried." She gave up twisting her poor napkin into knots and tossed in on the table.

"You know, I'm starting to get worried too," Tara piped up. And it wasn't just because Lucy was going crazy with worry. She didn't know what it was, but she just had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

D checked his watch with a frown. Tara wasn't the only one with a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Did you try Jack's phone?"

Lucy nodded as she tried to fight back the sting of tears. "Twice and I only got his voicemail."

Bobby frowned as he leaned forward and folded his arms over the tabletop. "That's not like Jack." Even if Sparky was otherwise occupied, he would always answer his phone.

Myles glanced around the table at his teammates, each of them wore the same expression of concern. "I'm sure it's nothing to worry about," he spoke up as if the whole idea was ludicrous. He laughed half-heartedly though as if even he couldn't believe his own words.

The trill of a cell phone startled the entire group, each reaching for their own to see if it was one of their friends calling. D lifted his cell to his ear, four gazes shifting in his direction. "Gans," he answered. He straightened up just a bit in his chair, his eyes darting toward the worried group. He gave a mere shake of his head to tell them that it was neither Sue nor Jack. "Yes sir?"

"Hurry up, Maggie!" a voice called from the kitchen. A mop of blonde hair tied up in a ponytail poked out of the door as the waitress motioned to her friend eagerly to join her.

A petite brunette quickly excused herself from the couple she was waiting on to hurry back to the kitchen. She didn't want to miss a moment of the situation playing on the news.

Reaching out as she passed, Bobby gently took hold of her arm. "Excuse me?" he asked.

She smiled down at him, but she was eager to get find out what she missed. "Yes, sir?" she asked as she bounced from one foot to the other.

"What's going on?"

Her eyes instantly widened in their sockets. "You haven't heard?"

"Heard what?" Tara asked, unable to ignore the fact that Bobby's hand still rested on the girl's arm. The fact that she was much too young for the Aussie never occurred to her as jealousy suddenly roared to life inside of her.

"There's a guy trying to rob a bank a few blocks away. It's on every news channel."

"What bank?" Lucy asked.

"Washington First National." She seemed to be impressed by the fact.

Bobby's grip instantly slackened as his face blanched. No one seemed to notice, though and for that he was thankful. Clearing his throat, he managed to smile up at the girl. "Thank you." She merely smiled back before she headed off back toward the kitchen.

"Why didn't you ask where our waitress was?" Myles whined as he watched her disappear into the back.

"Sorry, mate. Slipped my mind."

Myles was ready with a rejoinder, but the ending of D's call caught his attention, along with the rest of them.

"We're on it," was the last thing D said before he flipped his phone shut and raised his usually calm brown eyes to the rest of the team. Something had forced the usual sparkle in his eyes to hide and that was something the rest of them didn't like at all. Swallowing thickly, he thought about how he was going to phrase his next statement. "We have a situation."


	5. Chapter Four

**No More Games**

**Chapter Four**

"Okay, this is how this is going to work," cold, steely blue eyes scanned the faces of his hostages. They danced over the frightened faces of Amelia and her grandmother, a man dressed in a finely-pressed business suit, and the beautiful blond with the dog until they came to rest momentarily on Jack's.

Jack didn't hesitate to stare back. His instincts as an agent told him to never back down from a fight and it looked like the man in the hood was looking for a fight from him. And as much as his fingers itched to reach out for his own gun, he knew that was exactly what their captor was looking for.

He knew Jack was armed and yet he hadn't ordered him to relinquish his weapon. The agent couldn't fathom why, but if he relied on his old sniper training and patiently wait this out, he might very well get the shot he was looking for.

The hooded man turned his gaze away as he continued to address the rest of their small group sitting in front of him. Jack didn't even bother to listen as he felt Sue tense beside him.

His eyes shifted in her direction and she surprised him by reaching out and taking his hand in hers. He stared at her in confusion when she pulled them both into her lap, but didn't lace their fingers together.

Jack wasn't sure what was running through her mind right then, but if she was thinking what he thought she was, then she really had to choose a better moment to do it.

Her fingers moved gently along his palm, the flesh tingling. It reminded him of every other tender touch and caress and his mind instantly wandered to his restless night and the conclusion he'd made as dawn arrived. He'd promised both of them there would be no more games and after they got out of this, he was going to live up to that promise.

Sue's grip tightened on his palm and her fingernails dug lightly into the flesh. He winced in pain and met her eyes with a wounded expression. Her gaze was steady as she looked at him and her fingers continued to move against his palm.

Her eyebrows arched in clear meaning. She was trying to tell him something. It was then he realized that she was finger spelling into his hand. She must have seen it when it finally registered in his mind what she was trying to so and she couldn't resist rolling her eyes and start from the beginning.

The vibration of her Blackberry told Jack everything he needed to know.

"**W-H-O?**" he finger spelled into her hand.

"**L-U-C-Y**," she replied, not even having to look at the screen to know it was her roommate that was trying to get a hold of her.

A silent question glittered in her eyes and Jack gave an imperceptible shake of his head. He was not going to let her play the hero. Of course it would be easy to send a simple text back to Lucy and the rest of the team to tell them of their predicament, but he couldn't allow Sue to put herself in that kind of danger.

Their captor had a wild look in his eyes; a look Jack had seen far too many times. He could only imagine the outcome if the blonde analyst was placed in the line of fire and it was one he would never let happen as long as he was living and breathing.

* * *

><p>"Okay," D said as he hurried into the bullpen, eager to hear of some news to brighten his day. Telling Donna he wouldn't be home until late hadn't exactly been easy. He was already in the doghouse from the extra hours he'd already put in. He would have to work extra hard to make another late night up to her.<p>

The ringing of telephones and clicking of computer keys was like music to his ears as he pulled to a stop in the center of the desks. With two men—and one dog— down for the time being, he hoped that the remaining four had found something; preferably Jack and Sue. "What've we got?"

"The security company employed by the bank is working with me on getting a video feed so we can see what's going on inside," Tara started the update without looking away from her monitor or missing a single keystroke. "Their tech-guy will call me back as soon as it's ready."

D nodded. "Good. Put it up on the screen once you've gotten it." The only acknowledgement he received to his order was a nod of her blonde bob. He accepted it and turned his gaze to the rest of the present team.

"A single shot was fired approximately an hour ago," Myles continued as he scanned over his barely legible notes he'd scribbled down only a few moments ago. "I spoke with the representative from Metro. They seem to think that it's only one gunman."

"Seems to make sense. One shot, one gunman," Bobby elaborated aloud.

D agreed. "What about hostages?"

"According to the bank's employment records, two guards, three tellers and one manager were scheduled to work until closing tonight," Lucy informed them as she picked up the handset of her desk phone and poised her fingers over the keys. "There hasn't been any word yet about how many customers."

"Who called it in?"

"The poor sheila working across the street at the gas station." Bobby scratched the back of his neck in puzzlement as he ran through the phone conversation he'd had with the dispatching officer. "She told the dispatcher that some bloke in a hooded sweatshirt came in, bought a pack of cigarettes and when she asked him if he needed anything else, he told her she should call the police because he was going to rob the bank."

"A bit boastful, though highly ineffective, I'm guessing?" Myles asked.

Bobby turned his thoughtful green gaze toward the Bostonian. "Would you have believed it?" Myles just shrugged. "Anyway, someone from the street ran in and told her to call the police because he'd heard shots—in reality, one shot—coming from the bank. That was when she finally picked up the phone and called it in."

"Tara," D turned back in her direction.

"Security feed from the gas station," she finished promptly for him. "I'm already on it _and _working on any traffic cams that could have caught him." She smiled at D's nod of approval.

Lucy set her phone back in its cradle and tapped her fingernails worriedly over the handset. "D?" She waited for the senior agent to turn back her way, the few shorts seconds passing by allowing an even deeper concern to settle in her stomach. "Jack and Sue still aren't answering their phones. I've tried both apartments and their favorite hangouts. I'm getting really worried."

So was he. This definitely wasn't like them. And of course it would happen at a time when they needed them most. Opening his mouth to offer some reassurance to his team, he closed his mouth a second alter and shook his head. What did they want him to say?

"D, I've got the feed!" Tara exclaimed triumphantly as she clicked the link and allowed it to load on her screen. Her eyes suddenly went wide in shock at what she saw and her hand instinctively flew to her mouth to stifle her gasp of surprise.

"Put it up," he ordered, but saw the trepidation in her eyes.

He wasn't the only one.

"What is it, Luv?" Bobby asked as he watched her face visibly pale. His own blood was curdling at the mere thought of what they'd found.

Her mouth opened and closed a few times as she tried to get the words out. Swallowing thickly, she tried one last time. "I found Jack and Sue," was all she said as she put the feed up on the flat screen.

On the right hand side of the screen, the faces of Jack, Sue and Levi were easy to spot as they rested stiffly against the wall with what looked like the rest of the bank's customers.

Bobby swallowed thickly as his eyes became glued to the monitor, but it wasn't his friends he was watching. It was the brunette sitting on the lower left hand corner of the screen. His heart clenched as she turned her face directly into the camera's view. He couldn't stifle the curse that rumbled from his lips as her features registered in his brain.

Shannon.


	6. Chapter Five

**No More Games**

**Chapter Five**

"You," the gunman swiveled around, his weapon held steadily in his right hand as he aimed it at the trembling brunette huddled against the teller's counter. A squeak of fright escaped her lips as she looked—for the very first time—down the barrel of a gun. "On your feet."

His eyes were cold as he glared down at her. Compassion was the last thing on his mind. After all, when was the last time he was ever shown some compassion? He couldn't remember and, frankly, he didn't want to. That wasn't the reason why he was there. He was doing this to make a point. He was just as memorable as anyone else in that very room. And he was going to prove it even if he had to kill every single one of his hostages.

The girl—Shannon—shrank as far away from the hooded man as she possibly could. The bank's two guards sat on either side of her and they stared up at him as if they were willing to protect them with their lives. That is, they would if they were armed.

He rolled his eyes. Two guards' lives meant very little to him and while Shannon had been the focus of his attention for months, he would have very little use for her once this was over. In fact, she was already disposable.

He removed the safety from the gun with a very audible click. His hand tightened on the butt of the weapon and his finger twitched against the trigger. All it would take was one little squeeze.

"Don't make me ask twice," he growled.

The entire room watched intently as the girl climbed shakily to her feet. Tears were visible in her eyes as she clutched at the silver chain around her neck and wrapped her free arm around her stomach. She looked so fragile; as if she would break at any moment.

"Jack," Sue whispered in his ear, her sympathy for frightened girl clear in her voice. He squeezed her hand still clenched in his to offer her some sort of comfort as he turned to look her in the eye. "We have to do something."

He swallowed thickly at the compassion he saw in her eyes. Tears rimmed her lower lashes as thoughts of what could happen today if nothing was done. The same thoughts were running through his own mind, along with a few others that mostly consisted of the woman sitting beside him.

He swallowed the curse that threatened to erupt from his lips and squeezed Sue's hand again before he turned his eyes back to the hooded man and the teller as he reached for his gun.

Their captor removed a folded up piece of cloth from inside the front pouch of his sweatshirt and tossed it on the counter. "Fill up the bag with as much money as you can."

Shannon merely nodded as she tried to hold herself together. Opening a drawer full of bills, she silently began to regret moving to DC in the first place. What in the world had possessed her to move someplace so dangerous?

Swallowing thickly past her tears, she began to fill the bag with one hand. The other continued to clutch the chain around her neck as she remembered why she'd decided to move so far away from home, her parents, and the only life she'd ever known.

Bobby.

She sniffled loudly as she felt herself begin to completely crumble. The fear that she would never see him or her parents again was eating her up inside. She just wanted this nightmare to be over.

Pausing to wipe away her tears, she caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of her eye. The gunman was facing her, making sure she did as she was told so he never saw the man carefully get to his feet or when he reached inside his jacket.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Tara," she heard the familiar tenor of Donato's voice as she wove passed him in the hallway as she searched for Bobby.<p>

"Hey, Jim," she tossed back at him with a sigh. Usually the man's roving eye would set her off-balance when they came into any sort of contact with one another, but she was too worried about Bobby to notice the man ogling her tush.

The bank's security video had been up on the screen for barely five minutes before he decided to rush off, mumbling something under his breath as he hurried from the Bullpen. And she'd been the one elected to find him.

"Everything okay?" Donato asked as he paused right beside her and invaded her personal space.

She stared up at him, wide-eyed for only a second before his expression registered in her mind. The drongo was leering at her like she was a porterhouse steak! "Er… yeah. Have you seen Bobby? We have a meeting with SOG in ten minutes and I can't find him anywhere." As she spoke, she carefully inched away to put some distance between them. The man just didn't know how to take no for an answer.

Thankfully, he didn't follow her. In fact, just mentioning the Aussie's name seemed to sober him up. "I saw him head into the conference room down the hall about five minutes ago."

She was already walking away from him before her finished talking, heading into the direction he pointed to. She shot back a quick "thanks" over her shoulder but never looked back at him. Still, as she moved, she felt his eyes on her the entire way.

She wasn't sure what she'd expected to see when she finally found Bobby. Ever since they'd heard about the bank robbery, he'd been on edge and for some reason that frightened her. Still, he was calm as he leaned over a few papers he'd tossed onto the table. He looked worried, but calm.

"Bobby?" she called softly to him.

It wasn't her intention to startle him, but her attempt at easing him to awareness was unsuccessful. His head shot up from where he was studying the documents in front of him and turned to look at her. A curse rumbled passed his lips. "You scared me, Tara Luv."

Tara thought she'd caught a glimpse of tears in his eyes, but he blinked once and they were suddenly gone; replaced with the calm emotional barrier she was used to. "Sorry," she blushed, though she wasn't sure whether it was because she'd scared him or it was because of the way he called her 'Luv'. She really liked it when he called her that. "Uh, I knocked, but I guess you didn't hear me."

A mirthless laugh shook his shoulders as he tried to offer her a sincere smile. She noticed how it didn't completely reach his eyes.

"Sorry. I was… just thinking," was his only excuse as his gaze drifted back to the tabletop.

Curious, Tara stepped further into the room to see what had him so enthralled, but before she was able to catch a good glimpse, he'd gathered them up and stuck them back inside the inner pocket of his jacket. From what she had seen though, they were a series of letters of some sort and they really seemed to disturb him.

"Bobby-" she tried, but he didn't let her continue.

"Did you need something, Luv?"

She didn't like the way he was trying to change the subject, but she nodded anyway. "We're meeting with SOG in"—she checked her watch—"five minutes. A few members of SWAT are going to be there too."

He merely nodded with that familiar, infuriatingly calm mask still held in place as he headed for the door.

Reaching out, she grasped onto his arm and pulled him to a stop. "Bobby, is everything okay?"

For a second, his mask slipped free from his hold, allowing her to see his true emotions. He swallowed thickly and before she knew it, it was back in place as he cleared his throat and merely nodded as he pulled himself from her grasp.


	7. Chapter Six

**No More Games**

**Chapter Six**

Shannon's hands were shaking violently as their captor's eyes bored into her. An icy chill ran up and down her spine so viciously that her entire body trembled with fear and she had to clutch at the counter with her free hand as she continued to fill the bag with money.

Tears that she tried to blink away were painfully stinging her eyes and her breaths were coming out in a raspy rhythm. She felt lightheaded and nauseous, not to mention terrified beyond belief.

And seeing the man in the black jacket climbing to his feet made it even worse.

Her breaths became shallower—she was on the verge of hyperventilating—though she didn't allow her eyes to turn away from her task. She knew that if her gaze so much as flickered in his direction that the crazed man holding them all here wouldn't hesitate to put a bullet through him.

"Keep filling," ordered the gunman, meanwhile the man in the black jacket held a single finger to his lips to urge her silence. She nodded her head to compliance of both commands and lowered her eyes back to what she was doing.

The bag quickly filled and the man in the sweatshirt leaned over the counter to study her closer. She caught the whiff of his bad cologne and tobacco on his breath. Her stomach gave an involuntary clench as she fought the urge to gag.

"I promise I won't hurt you, Shannon," he whispered to her, which caught her off guard.

Her eyes darted to his as she looked at him in wonder. "How do you know my name?" she asked, her words spoken barely above a whisper.

A confident little smile curled to his lips as she glanced over her shoulder. She followed his gaze with confusion as her eyes set upon the vase of beautiful white roses her brother had sent her the day before. At least, that's who she'd thought had sent them when she'd accepted the delivery. All the card had said was: _'With Love, B.'_

"Oh, God." Her eyes suddenly widened in shock as she stared at him. It was him. He was the one who'd been sending her the gifts, the flowers… those letters. Ugh!

And while she was figuring it all out, he was just smiling back at her as if this was all just some sort of game.

"It's you," she gasped and backed away from the desk. Some of the packets of money spilled out onto the countertop and that was when the cold façade fell back over his features.

He raised his weapon back in her line of sight. He really didn't want to hurt her. She was far too beautiful to kill. "Pick them up," he commanded.

She shook her head as she backed up as far as the small space would allow. Her back touched the cool marble wall behind her, but it still wasn't far enough away from this crazed man; the same crazed man that had been stalking her.

He held the weapon tighter. "Don't make me ask you a second time."

She whimpered in fear as she stared down the barrel of the gun yet again. She still needed to stay strong. She couldn't let him have the upper hand. But for that the happen, she couldn't look straight ahead. Her eyes instinctively darted to the left and she only realized too late that he would notice.

He noticed the presence of someone standing behind him, disappointed in himself that he'd let his guard down long enough for some brave fool to try to fight back. And he knew just who that fool was.

Swinging around, he kicked high, knocking the gun out of Jack's hand and with his own weapon cradling in his hand, backhanded the other man across the face. Jack was knocked back and he fell to the ground, blood trickling freely from the corner of his mouth.

Jack shook his head to chase away the lights dancing before his eyes and searched for his gun. Seeing that it was just out of reach, he made to grab for it. It was almost in his grasp before a foot came down and shuffled it farther away from him.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the gunman growled coldly as he reached for the zipper of his sweatshirt. He pulled it carefully down and opened it, grinning widely as he watched the look of horror appear in the other man's eyes.

* * *

><p>"Bobby!" Tara called after him. He was already halfway down the hall and she had to run to catch up with him. Even then he didn't stop for her. She let out a low, menacing growl. His attitude was becoming very annoying. "Bobby, stop," she urged as he reached out to grab his arm.<p>

He did so reluctantly and turned to her with a pained expression on his face. "What is it now, Tara?"

She didn't know what to say to him that she hadn't already said. Sometimes it felt like they were still walking on eggshells around each other ever since their… incident… a couple of weeks ago, but she was still his friend and if he needed to talk, she would be there for him. Just like she knew he would be there for her. "I just… I wish you would tell me what's bothering you."

He shook his head, the expression in his eyes telling her to just drop it. "It's nothing."

She wasn't just going to drop this. "It's _not_ nothing," she shot back, a little louder than was necessary. She blushed scarlet when eyes swiveled in their direction. "It's obviously something," she continued a bit softer a second later, "because you've been acting this way all afternoon." She huffed out a heavy breath and brushed her bangs out of her eyes as she waited for some sort of response. He didn't give one. "It has something to do with those letters you were looking at in the conference room, doesn't it?" Of that she was absolutely certain, but it was what they contained that had her curious.

His expression shifted before her eyes and she knew she'd hit the nail on the head.

"What's going on, Bobby?"

His head lowered and his shoulders sagged as if he they were carrying some huge weight. "It's hard to explain," was all he chose to tell her and he knew that she wouldn't back down because of it.

She just arched an eyebrow in frustration and crossed her arms over her chest as she waited. "Try me."

He rolled his eyes. "Why is this so important for you to know?"

That question hurt her. If he believed that she wouldn't be there for him, despite everything that had happened between them, then she obviously didn't know him as well as she'd once believed. "Because it's important to you," she retorted and then added when she was certain her heart could bear the weight of the question; not to mention the pain of the answer, "Does this have anything to do with Darcy?"

He looked surprised as she brought up his former girlfriend—the woman he'd chosen over Tara. He bit back an angry curse. It wasn't directed at her, but at himself. He knew he'd hurt Tara a great deal when he'd told her that kissing her made him realize that he was in love with Darcy. He'd hurt himself as well. It was a stupid, idiotic mistake to make and he'd been regretting it ever since the words slipped out of his mouth and even more so when she'd chosen Stanley over him.

"No." There was a finality to his tone that stunned him. It had been the first time he'd been able to admit to both someone else and also himself that he and Darcy _were_ actually over. "We broke up when she left for LA."

Tara was shocked by that information. She'd been convinced that the two of them would attempt a long-distance relationship. At least, that was the way it had seemed a few weeks ago. But if they had broken up, who did Bobby call at the end of almost every day? "So, then, what is this about?" she continued to prod after the shock wore off.

He silently weighed her question in his mind, his teeth gently nipping at the inside pocket of his lower lip. This was painful enough to think about, let alone talk about. Shannon was his sister—his _little_ sister—and she'd gone to him for help, but he'd been too busy for her.

For weeks, she'd been getting strange gifts and letters from an admirer and she'd been terrified beyond reason. And what had he done? Merely brushed it off; said it was nothing she should worry about. Now, he would bet a year's salary that the crazed maniac holding up the bank she worked at was the same one who'd sent the letters.

An angry cursed slipped passed his lips and lifted his eyes to Tara's. She still stood there, waiting some sort of explanation. And he wanted to tell her, he really did, but how could he just come out and tell her that he was a drongo?

"Well?" she finally asked when he didn't respond. She'd waited patiently enough and now she wanted some answers.

His mouth opened like he was going to speak, but quickly turned when he heard Myles calling his name. Both turned in the Bostonian's direction, their conversation suddenly forgotten as they saw the alarmed expression he wore.

"There's a bomb."

That got their attention and Tara was the first to move. She walked around him, but he pulled her to a stop. "Later," he promised. He would tell her everything. About Shannon, her stalker, and even how that kiss had affected him. She merely nodded in response before heading back to the bullpen.


	8. Chapter Seven

**No More Games**

**Chapter Seven**

"Tara, what do we have on this guy?" D asked with a tone of disparity to his voice. It had been bad enough when this yahoo was waving a gun in the air and all of his possible victims could be accounted for in the main lobby of that bank. But with what he had strapped to his chest, there could end up being countless others dead at his hand.

"I've been running his image through facial recognition software. Nothing back yet, though," she added with a sigh.

D massaged his temples, hoping it would help to ease the dull ache in his head and neck, but Tara's information had just made it worse. He groaned. "I was hoping you wouldn't say that." Pinching the bridge of his nose, he looked toward Myles who was conversing quietly with Lucy at her desk. "What about you two?"

Lucy ran her ringers through her hair and licked her lips. D already knew by those two minor, unconscious actions that he wasn't going to like what they had to say. "Metro is standing by one scene along with medical personnel. And SWAT has snipers set up around the bank." She paused and glanced toward Myles.

The Bostonian shrugged his shoulders and swept his arm forward in a motion of invitation. "Go ahead. You might as well tell him."

D closed his eyes and groaned. The bad news just wasn't coming to an end. "Tell me what?"

Myles took a step back to allow Lucy to rise from her chair, a remote control in hand. With a push of a button, the appliance came to life revealing the image of the bank from one of the dozens of news cameras set up around the fray. At least the cameras couldn't see inside the bank. That was definitely a blessing.

"And this isn't the only channel it's on, D. Even cable news stations have picked up on this. It's a media frenzy."

Blowing out a breath, D nodded as he considered their options. He watched as the image changed to Chopper-View and showed them all just how many passers-by were standing in the streets, awaiting the end of this.

Despite his better instincts, he knew they would have to pull the snipers out of there. The repercussions of keeping them on scene—even for safety reasons—could be too great. He was already getting enough pressure from the brass. He didn't need any more.

Turning back to Lucy, he said, "Get a hold of Shane. Tell him to pull the snipers, but to keep the rest of his men on the ground. And let Metro know that they need to get as many officers as they have available to get down there for crowd control. Some idiot is going to try to go in for a closer look. I just know it."

Lucy and Myles both nodded and quickly reached for their phones to carry out the orders. D then turned to Bobby.

So far, the Aussie had remained quiet as he stewed over a few pictures of the man in the sweatshirt and the device he had strapped to his chest. Setting down the magnifying glass he'd been using, he picked up the best photo of the three and stood up with a grin.

"Oh please tell me that you have good news." D wasn't usually a begging man, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

Bobby's grin widened and the sparkle returned instantly to his eyes. "I have good news." He crossed the room, and held the picture in front of Tara's face. "What does that look like to you, luv?" He pointed to a spot on the photograph and Tara's eyes narrowed as she tried to discern what she was seeing.

"Blasting caps?" she asked. At least, that's what it looked like to her.

"That's what I thought at first, too. Until I took a closer look." He turned back to the rest of the room, to show them too. "These," he pointed to the pieces that looked very similar to blasting caps, "aren't blasting caps."

D raised an eyebrow as he studied the picture a little more closely. To the untrained eye, they _did _look like blasting caps. "So, what are they?"

"They're fireworks," Bobby replied with a grin.

"Fireworks?" Myles asked, skeptically.

"Yeah. Roman Candles most lightly. They have the same shape and form required for this sort of style of suicide vest. And though it could cause a few minor burns if this thing is actually wired to go off at all, it won't kill anybody."

"So, if you were to make a vest like this and you knew it would cause only minor harm, why go through all the trouble in the first place?" Lucy asked as she hugged herself from the sudden chill that raced down her spine. She didn't know why, but there was still something that wasn't sitting right in her stomach.

"That's the million dollar question, it seems," D sighed. His headache had eased slightly from Bobby's news, but there was still a throb at the back of his head that would remain until their suspect was in custody.

"Anybody ready for some more good news?" Tara asked from behind her monitor where she'd started working furiously again only a few seconds before. She smiled as the rest of the team turned in her direction; it was a triumphant smile. "We got a hit on our guy."

* * *

><p>Jack rubbed at stinging pain in his jaw. He'd been hit plenty of times in his career, but almost no pain could compare to being hit with the butt of a gun. It almost felt like something between a punch to the stomach and a bullet lodging itself in one of the plates of his Kevlar vest.<p>

Forcing himself to sit up, his tongue flickered out to brush against the cut on his lip. It stung, but he didn't allow his pain to show if only for the sake of his wounded pride. The metal tang of blood invaded his taste buds, which made him immediately spit it out.

"You knew I was armed." His eyes never wavered from the gunman's. "And yet you let me keep my gun. Why?" It was the one question that had been burning to life inside of him since that first shot had been fired off. Why, indeed?

The cool, blue-eyed expression smiled back at him in such a way that made the hairs on the back of Jack's neck stand on edge. "I was just curious about how far you would go to protect your little sweetheart over there." His gaze promptly turned toward Sue as he received an angry, icy glare from the man still sprawled out on the floor. He couldn't help but look at the blonde appreciatively. She was certainly beautiful, but his heart would forever belong to Shannon—whether she would accept it or not.

Sue's glare in return only made him chuckle which raised Levi's hackles. She felt her canine companion tense beside her and then his deep growl as he prepared himself to protect his mistress. She managed to calm him by gently stroking his ears and a few gentle words to which he responded with only a soft whimper.

Turning back to Jack, the gunman carried himself with an almost swagger to his movements. Suddenly he seemed very confident and that worried Jack more than the device strapped to the man's chest. "As least I know how far you would go to protect her, but how far will you go to protect the rest of them?" His arms swept around the room to remind the other man of the other victims in this vicious game of his.

As if he needed to be reminded. "I'm not in the mood to play games," especially when it came to innocent people's lives, Jack countered coldly.

His response was met with a grin. "Good. Because neither am I."


	9. Chapter Eight

**No More Games**

**Chapter Eight**

"Tell me you have good news," D pleaded as he wandered back into the bullpen from yet another meeting with the Assistant Director and Director. The hour was getting too late. They needed something and they needed it now.

Her head buried behind her monitor, Tara twirled her hair around her finger as she read over the report showing on her screen. With the facial recognition software she'd installed to work within the public records database, she'd thought this would be simple; hopefully open-and-shut. Then they could get everyone out of that bank and they could all go home.

She never thought it would be this complicated.

Catching her lower lip between her teeth, she lifted her gaze to the rest of the team as they stood by for whatever information she was about to feed them.

"Tara, please tell me that I at least will be able to see my family some time tonight," D added when she didn't respond immediately.

Shifting uncomfortably in her seat, she looked at D. He looked tired and frustrated and she was sure that last call from Donna hadn't made his headache any better. Twisting her lips to purse at the corner of her mouth, Tara tried to look into her old friend's eyes, but found that she just couldn't. She didn't have the information he was looking for.

"Erm… what kind of flowers does Donna like again?" she asked and gave him the answer he didn't want at the same time.

Groaning in frustration, he took a seat in his chair and waited for the rest of the bad news. "I'm not going to like this, am I?"

Moving her gaze back to her monitor, she weighed his question before formulating an answer. "Well, I suppose it depends on how you look at it."

"How about you just give it to us straight?" Myles asked as he perched himself upon the corner of Bobby's desk.

Swallowing thickly, she nodded. "Okay." But, she didn't say any more.

"Well?" Bobby asked impatiently when she didn't continue.

She floundered for a moment. This really was a blow she didn't want to deliver. Looking up, she glanced at each member of her team in turn, before finally giving in. Pushing the "print" button, she stood up from her chair and took a spot in front of her desk. "Well, he definitely has a record."

"Name?" D asked, clearly looking for just the facts.

"Bryan Tedesco, twenty-eight. He's originally from Virginia and he moved into the Metro area about five years ago. During that time, he's had quite a few run-ins with the police… for stalking." She tried not to look at Bobby when she said this, but she found that she had no control of her eyes at the moment. He met her gaze with solemn eyes, knowing immediately what she'd found out.

"Stalking?" Myles spoke up, curiously. Tara willingly handed over the hard copy of the report and wrapped her arms around her stomach to calm the unsettling feeling within.

"Yes. He's had restraining orders filed against him by five women, one of them most recently being a Mrs. Shannon Tyler."

Lucy's brow furrowed as that name registered in her mind. "Why does that name sound so familiar?"

"She's one of the bank's tellers," Bobby responded with a heavy sigh. She was also his baby sister.

Standing up from his desk, D took the report from Myles. "Has he done anything as extreme as this before?"

Tara shook her head. "No."

"So, why do it all of a sudden?" Lucy asked.

"The attention," Myles mumbled and when he was met with four pairs of curious eyes, he continued. "I've seen this before. He attaches himself to a woman he finds… suitable, shall we say. And when she doesn't return his advances, he can either turn away with his tail between his legs or he can up his attention just a few degrees more."

"And then the woman files the restraining order," Lucy finished for him, following his train of thought.

He nodded in agreement. "Exactly and once that happens, he moves on to another target. It sounds like Mr. Tedesco has moved on too many times. He's angry and tired of the lack of attention from his female fixations. So, he does what he thinks is best to gain a reaction out of his latest obsession."

"Well, he's definitely getting a reaction," D groused with a heavy sigh. "And the FBI's getting attention it doesn't need. We need to get this guy before he either hurts himself or worse, one of his hostages."

"How do you plan we do that?" Bobby asked, more that just a little bit eager to take this guy down.

"I haven't quite figured that out yet."

* * *

><p>The locker room was deserted and for that Bobby was thankful. Myles had suited up in his SWAT gear and left him to finish dressing to go find D and run through the plan one last time before they headed out toward the scene.<p>

Tedesco had finally agreed to talk to the negotiator, despite the little good it would do. If Leland was right and this psycho was only out for the attention, then there would be no getting through to him anyway. The most it would accomplish was to get him to free some of the hostages.

And of course, that was what mattered most.

Sighing heavily, Bobby sunk down onto the bench in front of him and tried to rub the tension from his neck and shoulders with his palms. The muscles were so tight that they were giving him a headache.

He just wanted this nightmare to be over.

He jumped as another pair of hands joined in and he swiveled around in his seat to find Tara standing above him.

Blushing, she quickly pulled her hands away, not even sure what had even made her reach out and help him relieve his stress. "Sorry," she quickly apologized and turned to leave.

He shook his head and reached out for her. "No. It's okay. You just scared me. Why didn't you tell me you were here?"

A cute little smirk quirked up the corner of her mouth as she allowed him to pull her hands back to his tense muscles. "I tried, but you were so far away." She wanted to ask where he'd been, but she didn't exactly have the right to, so she'd stopped herself before the question passed her lips and just focused on rubbing away his tension.

"Yeah, well…" He didn't even try to apologize. It wasn't like she'd been expecting one anyway.

She'd been expecting something else. The truth. "Why didn't you tell D about Shannon?" she blurted out. She instantly tensed as the question flew out of her mouth. She'd planned to ease into the conversation, not just blurt it out. But now it was out in the open and she was ready for some answers.

Bobby had been enjoying the feel of her hands attacking the stubborn muscles of his shoulders. He allowed himself to focus on the heat her touch invoked within him, even if to just brush the feeling of failure away for a brief moment. That is, until she'd asked that question.

The tension returned ten-fold and the feeling of disappointment was like a lump in his stomach.

"He would have taken me off the case," was the only answer he could give, suddenly feeling the void left behind by Tara's hands as she removed them from his shoulders.

She walked around him and perched herself on the bench in front of him. She wanted him to look at her, but he continued to keep his gaze lowered, as if he was ashamed. "Bobby," she began, her tone soft and full of pity as she reached out to him with a gentle hand.

He immediately recoiled. "Don't," he growled as he shifted away from her.

"Don't what?" she asked, curious as to why he was pulling away from her.

"I don't need your pity," his eyes finally rose to meet hers and she found that they were cold and unwavering, "or whatever it is you're offering."

She was taken aback by his sudden anger towards her and as soon as it wore off, she felt her own ire begin to rise. "Well, if you weren't acting like someone just shot your dog, then maybe I wouldn't feel this way," she finally shot back as she rose to her feet. Darn it if she still couldn't tower over him the way she'd intended to.

"Tara," he tried to argue, but she wasn't hearing any of it.

"No, let me finish," she ordered as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Bobby, you need to stop this. You're acting like this is all your fault, like Shannon, Jack, Sue and everyone else in that bank is in danger because of what you did… or didn't do."

"It is my fault," he argued, but Tara didn't acknowledge that he'd even said anything.

"Listen, Tedesco would have gone through with this plan, no matter what. I've been reading up on him. This isn't the first extreme he's gone to for attention, though I'll admit, he hasn't gone this far before. No matter what you could have done, somewhere deep down, he still thinks that Shannon is the one for him. He thinks she'll return his affections if he does this."

"He knows she's married."

"And that's supposed to matter? Bobby, Tedesco… he's not seeing the whole picture. He's only seeing what he wants to see. A pretty young woman with a good job, who was probably kind to him. He probably hasn't seen that very much in his life." She could see that that had made the wheels begin to turn in his head. Tara felt a smile curl at her lips and allowed herself to press on. "No matter what you think, you are not at fault for any of this." And she knew Shannon would agree, though if she would have voiced that, Bobby would have gone back to being on the defense.

At least, that's what she'd hoped.

"Tara," he still tried to argue, but was stopped from doing so.

"Let's go, Koala Boy," Myles called to him from the doorway. "We're burning whatever daylight is left." And just as soon as he was there, Leland was gone.

Sighing heavily, Tara rubbed at a sharp pain over her eye with her fingertip. There just wasn't enough time to say all that needed to be said, but she just hoped that she'd gotten through enough to Bobby.

"Are you finished?" he asked as he looked up at her. His eyes were definitely brighter.

Hope swirled inside of her as she merely shrugged her shoulders. "Does it really matter?" Her heart twittered as she caught a glimpse of one of his dimples when his mouth curled up at one corner.

"Guess not," he chuckled before climbing to his feet and reaching for his Kevlar vest.

Tara found herself taking a step back. She hadn't realized how close she'd been standing to Bobby until he stood up. Swallowing thickly, she was overcome by the same emotions that had roared through her weeks ago when they'd kissed on her front stoop.

She suddenly felt very awkward.

"Tara?" Bobby asked. She jumped as his hand landed gently on her arm and shivered involuntarily as she met his gaze. A real smile had finally curled at his lips, but she knew it would take some time until it would meet his eyes. "Thanks."

She merely shook her head and wanted to say: "That's what friends are for," but the words got stuck in her throat as she watched him lean down to place a kiss on her cheek. She suddenly lost all control of her body and felt her head turn of its own accord.

Their lips met, shocking them both into awareness. Bobby jumped back like he'd just been scalded while Tara just stood there in surprise. An apology was ready on her lips, but the problem was that her voice was objecting.

Suddenly, she couldn't look at him. She tried to look at anywhere but at him and that was when he felt his finger's gentle pressure underneath her chin.

Their gazes met again and Tara was suddenly terrified at what she saw raging in his usually cool green eyes. Terrified in a good way. Swallowing thickly, she watched as his lips began to descend back to hers, her heart skittering to a stop.

She couldn't breathe, she couldn't think, and it barely registered when he whispered a gentle "Thank you," against her lips before covering them with his own.


	10. Chapter Nine

**No More Games**

**Chapter Nine**

The rear of the building was guarded with a heavy iron door that could only be opened by a series of select sequences and codes. A door that highly protected would take more than a year to crack even with the best code breakers assigned to crack it. The only problem was that they didn't exactly have a year. They were lucky that the Director had given them an hour to wrap this case up.

Bobby rolled his eyes at the thought. He probably wanted it gift wrapped and delivered to him with a pretty bow on it too.

They'd been lucky, though, when an off-duty bank manager had allowed them use of her access codes. That was at least one less headache down. Just a few dozen more to go.

"Tedesco is in the main lobby with the hostages," Tara reported from the bullpen. She had remained behind with Lucy only because ten squares blocks of the city had been cordoned off because of Tedesco's so-called "bomb". It was partially a ruse to keep the streets clear of bystanders and the media, but it was also just in case the dummy bomb turned out to be real.

None of them doubted Bobby's skills in explosives or the fact that this creep was only out for the fame of it all, but it was always better to be cautious.

"All other corridors are clear."

Bobby couldn't help the little smirk that curled to his lips as Tara's voice filtered in through his earpiece. It was a smirk of manly pride. In fact, his lips still tingled from Tara's kiss… or rather kisses. The initial contact had shocked him to like, just life it had after the MojoGogo concert. Yet, he hadn't retreated this time. After that night, he'd promised himself that if he was to ever gain another chance with Tara, he would make sure to do it right.

And while kissing her senseless in the locker room might not have been the right thing to do, exactly, at least it was a start in the right direction. They could always talk later.

He fell back into focus as he felt Myles shift beside him. As much as he would like to sit there and daydream about Tara for the rest of the night, he had to remember that he still had a job to do.

Leland moved in front of him, following closely behind D as Bobby took up the rear. Working so many ops like this had taught them to move as one, silent like a shadow that was ready to strike at its prey.

Light could be seen as they crept around one last corner. Two voices reached their ears. Since the security cameras were not equipped to record sound, they could only assume that the first belonged to Tedesco.

And they instantly recognized the second as belonging to Jack.

* * *

><p>Sue watched as Jack tried to negotiate with their captor, her hands buried in the thickness of Levi's fur. It was partially to keep him calm—he'd remained tense after Jack went sprawling to the floor (no one hurt his second-favorite human) and she could feel how on edge he still was—but it was mostly for her own comfort.<p>

They should have been rescued by now. She still had faith that they would, but it was coming in at a close second to the fear inside of her that told her none of them were ever going to leave this bank alive.

And that made her begin to regret a lot of things. Okay. That was a lie. She only regretted one thing and it involved the man willing to make a bargain with the crazed maniac with a bomb strapped to his chest.

Jack was willing to stay behind if everyone else was let go.

And the man in the sweatshirt was actually considering letting him do it!

At least for a moment, anyway.

"What good would you be when all of you together would be so much better?" she saw him ask, but something told her that Jack was just wasting his breath. A deal wouldn't be made.

"I'm with the FBI," was Jack's reply. "I'm the best leverage you can have if you let them all go."

Jack's admittance of being FBI didn't even seem to faze the other man. He didn't even blink. "Including Blondie and her mutt?" He shot a glance in her direction and Sue had to restrain Levi from charging. Wrapped her arms around the canine's neck, she pulled him back to her and forced him to lie back down. She couldn't resist shooting a daggered glare back at him.

Jack never turned away from the other man and for that, Sue was thankful. Turning away would have shown a sign of weakness and Jack Hudson was anything but weak. "Especially her." He barked in response. His eyes suddenly turned dark and intense and Sue could swear she'd just felt her heart flutter like a butterfly's wings inside her chest.

She hated to admit it but she was just as susceptible to those dark chocolate eyes of his, no matter how good she'd become at hiding it. The deep, dark power of those eyes always made her weak in the knees as her stomach did massive summersaults in her belly. It was almost just as wonderful as when he smiled at her with that flirtatious little curl of his lips and that heart stopping wink of his.

She suddenly felt the urge to fan herself because of her errant thoughts, but then she mentally chastised herself. Now was definitely not the time to sink into a fantasy about Jack Hudson. And by the way Levi was pawing at her, he felt exactly the same way.

Taking his sudden affection as a cry for attention, she continued to stroke him behind the ears. That wasn't what he was looking for. He continued to paw at her and then look away.

Frowning, she checked to see if Jack and their captor were still in the middle of negotiations and followed Levi's gaze. Her own traveled past the clerk's desk and toward the darkened hallway beyond. She had assumed that it only led to the bank's vault, so what had caught her furry companion's attention?

If she would have blinked, she would have missed the minute movement in the shadow. Her heart suddenly leaped into her throat as hope suddenly surged. The cavalry had finally arrived!


	11. Chapter Ten

**No More Games**

**Chapter Ten**

D ducked back out of sight, resting his back against the wall as he met the gazes of Bobby and Myles. They looked at him in question to which he gave a nod of acknowledgement before checking his weapon.

Levi had alerted Sue to their presence and in turn discovered that everyone else inside was, indeed, safe. They were probably terrified though.

And Jack, though he probably didn't even realize it, was proving to be the perfect distraction. All he needed to do was keep Tedesco occupied for a few more minutes while they waited for Tara's okay to move in.

"What do you want, then?" They heard their team leader ask Tedesco. "Whatever it is, you'll get it, but you have to let the hostages go first."

"There is only one thing I want." The icy tone of Tedesco's voice sent a chill down their spines. Bobby couldn't help but grip tighter at the barrel of his gun to make the feeling go away. He could guess what that one thing was and it made his heart grow cold.

Shannon's scream a few seconds later confirmed his theory.

"Let me go!" It sounded like she was fighting against him, to which Bobby silently praised his sister, but it turned out he was much too strong in the end.

"I want her."

"I meant within reason," Jack growled in response. How could this psycho actually believe that he would make a deal like that? "She's not part of the deal."

"Then there is no deal."

Jack rolled his eyes in frustration. There was just no getting through to this guy. His obsession had completely blinded him to the point that he couldn't see what he was doing. But how could he make him see that?

Hands on hips, Jack glanced around the lobby as he fought to think of something that could maybe get through to him. And then he spotted it. The gold ring on Shannon's finger sparkled brightly under the fluorescent lights.

"What about her husband?"

Tedesco had been admiring Shannon's beauty close up, caressing the flawless features of her face with his eyes. But as soon as Jack had asked that question, his gaze turned cold and his head shot up. "Husband?"

A sense of accomplishment washed over Jack at that moment. He could visibly see the chinks appearing in the other man's emotional armor at just the mention of the word "husband". Apparently that was something about the woman in his arms that he didn't know about.

Unfortunately, he hadn't counted on his sudden plan to backfire. Tedesco threw Shannon to the floor, rage setting his eyes ablaze. "You're married?" The girl tried to cringe away in fear, but he wasn't going to let her get far. Jack mentally cursed himself as he watched the other man reach out to her and acted on instinct. He jumped in front of Shannon, forcing himself between her and her attacker.

Tedesco reached out to shove Jack out of the way, but the agent only pushed back. He watched as the other man struggled to stay on his feet, his arms waving as he fought to regain his balance. Jack took that time to check on Shannon and when he was satisfied that she was all right, he turned back only to come face-to-face again with the barrel of a gun.

"I'm getting real tired of you," Tedesco ground out, his chest heaving as the anger continued to blaze in his formerly cool blue eyes.

"Funny," Jack swallowed thickly as he stared into the menacing gaze of the other man, "I could have said the same thing about you." It was a poor excuse of a joke, but he realized that the more he angered the other man, the better of a chance he was going to have to wrestle the gun away from him. Of course, then he would have to worry about that contraption strapped to his chest.

He rolled his eyes and sent a prayer heavenward. He needed a miracle and fast.

"FBI! Freeze!"

As if right on cue, Bobby, D and Myles burst into the room, guns drawn and aimed directly at Tedesco.

A sigh of relief whooshed from his chest as his eyes shot upward. Someone up there must really like him this week.

* * *

><p>Jack winced as he rolled his shoulder and a shot of pain exploded through his body. The paramedics had given him the all clear—along with a couple ibuprofens—before sending him on his way. That knock to the jaw hadn't hurt him much; he would be sporting a bruise and a split lip for a few days that was for sure.<p>

It was the tumble to the floor that had worried the medical staff. He'd landed pretty hard and they'd discovered that it had hurt him worse than anyone had originally thought. He was definitely going to be sore for a few days now that the adrenaline rush was wearing off and the painful aftershock was settling in.

Climbing down from the ambulance, he looked up at the building where today's nightmare had taken place.

Tedesco had been taken away an hour ago. He hadn't given up without a fight, flipping the switch that would begin the countdown on his "suicide vest" had been his last ditch attempt. He'd never counted on Bobby knowing what he'd actually strapped to his chest.

Jack had never imagined that the bomb would have been a fake. He knew he should have considered the fact, but he'd been so focused on protecting the rest of the hostages that most of his agent instincts had gone out the window.

He hated to admit it, but Tedesco had frightened him. Just the sight of the insanity in the man's eyes sent an icy chill straight down Jack's spine. He'd been so desperate for attention and notoriety that he would have gone to any lengths to achieve it.

And the worst part about it was that he'd succeeded. This whole ordeal had been media gold!

Jack still couldn't wrap his head around it.

Shaking his head, he made his way over to where Bobby, D and Myles were talking. The three of them were watching the happy reunion in front of them. Shannon's husband, John, had been out of town, but as soon as he'd gotten word about what was happening back home, he'd caught the first flight back to DC. The moment he'd seen his wife, he'd run to her, wrapping his arms around her and swearing never to let her out of his sight ever again.

"Lucky man," Jack heard Myles mutter as Shannon openly cried into John's chest.

"In more ways than one," D agreed.

"I just hope he remembers that," Bobby added for good measure before noticing his best mate. "Hey, mate," he acknowledged him with a hearty slap on the back, "all mended up?"

Jack grunted at the pain that shot trough him from Bobby's enthusiastic greeting. "Never better, Crash," he reassured him, despite the wince of pain that graced his features. Clearing his throat, he motioned to the couple of the moment with just a nod of his head. "She okay?"?

Bobby nodded as his eyes landed on his sister and brother-in-law. "Yeah. The medics said that she was probably in shock, but she'll be okay."

Nodding, Jack slipped his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket as he noticed that their team was two members short. "Where are Sue and Levi?" Checking his watch, he silently hoped that they hadn't gone home. He hadn't forgotten the promise he'd made to himself this morning. And after what the two of them had gone through today, he wasn't really in the mood to waste any more time.

"Uh, the wonderdog had a bit of personal business to deal with," Myles replied with a chuckle.

Jack released the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding in. It didn't go unnoticed.

"Everything okay, Sparky?"

He wanted to pretend like everything was okay, that today hadn't affected him any more than the rest of the week had. But, the entire time Tedesco had held them hostage, he hadn't been able to get her out of his mind. Everything he'd done today was because of her and also for her. And he needed her to know that.

The jingling of Levi's tags caught his attention. Turning, he saw them heading back from the direction of the park. He smiled. No everything wasn't okay. Not yet. "It will be," he promised himself and at the very same time answered his best friend's question.


	12. Chapter Eleven

**No More Games**

**Chapter Eleven**

Sue felt her heart jump to her throat as her gaze met Jack's. She couldn't explain the peculiar reaction to seeing him, though she supposed it very well could have to do with the way he was staring at her as she and Levi walked down the sidewalk.

Unexplained heat flooded her cheeks. His dark eyes felt like they were boring into her very soul from afar. She could only imagine what it would be like if she got any closer.

Suddenly feeling a bit self-conscious, she used her fingers like a comb as she tried to fix her hair. Her clothes felt wrinkled and she couldn't remember the last time she'd checked her makeup today. Oh what she wouldn't give for a mirror right about now.

His right hand rose slightly in the air as he waved at her. She smiled in return, but it wasn't a full smile. She was more worried about tripping in her heels and embarrassing herself in front of him to smile.

"**You okay?**" he signed to her.

Tears immediately started to sting her eyes and she had to laugh at herself. Just what was wrong with her today? And how could that one simple gesture—one that he had used a million times—affect her like this?

She had to pull herself together.

Finally, she nodded and asked him the same question.

He shrugged his shoulders and replied, "**I'll live.**"

At that very moment, she lost all control of her body. Levi's leash slipped from her fingers as her legs propelled themselves forward of their own accord and launched her into his arms. She buried her face in his chest and hugged him tight while he just stood there, stunned.

Peering over the top of her head, he glanced toward the other three agents who still stood behind him.

Myles looked impressed while Bobby and D were grinning like monkeys. He just shrugged at them, not sure what to say or do.

"I think that's our cue," Leland finally said after a moment, his eyes shining with laughter.

D nodded. "We're all meeting back up at the bullpen. We still owe Sue a welcome back dinner." He surprised Jack with a wink and his grin grew wider as the confusion only increased on the younger man's features.

Bobby patted his best mate on the back and chuckled. "Good luck, Sparky. Don't mess things up this time."

Jack looked back down at Sue, her face still hidden from his view. She wasn't doing anything. She was just standing there, allowing him to hold her. There was only one problem with it. He didn't want to let her go. Ever.

He wouldn't mess this up.

"Oh, Jack, one more thing," D said as he reached into one of the pockets of his SWAT uniform. He produced a white envelope with Jack's name clearly scrawled on its face. "When I was briefing the higher-ups, they asked me to give you this the next time I saw you."

Jack's heart suddenly clenched in… what was it? Fear? Excitement? He couldn't decide. Perhaps it was a mixture of both.

Jack merely nodded at the senior agent because he was unable to find his voice. He knew what the letter contained. It was a response to a request he'd made to the Director at least a month or so ago. It had been right after his more than inspiring reunion with Joe Wolfe. All of the emotions he'd felt during that case were what propelled him to go to the men upstairs.

And now the time had come for him to know the answer.

He swallowed thickly as he thought of the woman in his arms. Did it really matter what the letter said?

Not anymore. Not really.

He was tired—so very tired—of running away from his feelings. He loved Sue and no matter what the higher ups had to say, he wouldn't—he _couldn't_—hide it anymore.

_No more games,_ he promised himself with a sigh.

They stood there like that for a few minutes more. He'd waited for their teammates to disappear before he even thought about pulling away. There wasn't a single doubt in his mind that she would have been embarrassed by her own actions.

But why had she done it in the first place? It wasn't like he minded. Any excuse to hold Sue in his arms was as good as the next, but there had definitely been a reason this time. He could feel it.

Pulling way carefully, he looked down at her. A light pink tint dusted her cheeks and she tried to turn away from him. Clamping his hands upon her lower back so she wouldn't be able to escape, he smiled down at her, adoring the color flooding her cheeks.

"Feel better?" he asked.

She nodded and forced herself back a few steps. It had almost felt like he'd been reluctant to let her go. But that was certainly wishful thinking on her part. Flushing crimson, she shifted Levi's leash—the dog had contently sat beside her while she completely and utterly made a fool of herself—from one hand to the other.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."

Jack merely shrugged as he fought to keep his features neutral. "You can always come to me, Sue. You know that."

She nodded again, her lower lip finding its way between her teeth. Jack fought back the sudden groan of pleasure that hit him as he watched the luscious piece of flesh as it was ravaged by her own mouth. "I know. It's just that… after everything that happened today and your response to when I asked you if you were okay… I just…" She just… what?

"Lost control?" he offered. His hope soared when her eyes lit up in that way that made his heart skitter off its normal rhythm.

Her brow furrowed in thought as she looked at him. The look in his eyes caused her heart to flutter mercilessly against her ribcage. It was becoming more difficult to breathe by the second. If only she could pull her gaze away, she was sure it would return to its usual tempo.

She just couldn't do it.

"Yeah," she finally breathed, her eyes securely locked on his.

Jack's smile widened, and emboldened by Sue's unwavering gaze, took a step toward her. "I'm not complaining, Sue. You can lose control around me whenever you want."

She was speechless by his words. What exactly did he mean by that?

Swallowing thickly, Jack reminded himself—once again—of the promise he'd made to himself once again.

No more games.

Taking those words to heart, he allowed himself to drop his guard. He was finally ready to put his heart on the line, to show Sue that backpedaling was most definitely not an option this time.

With the gentlest pressure he could muster, he placed his finger under her chin, angling her mouth just the way he wanted it. "And I hope you'll allow me to do the same."

Her lips were just as soft as he remembered from that kiss so long ago. So warm, so sweet… so Sue.

He groaned against her mouth and pushed forward for an even bigger taste. And she didn't pull away. In fact, she welcomed it.

Clutching his shoulders, she allowed him to take the lead. The day had already taken such an emotional toll on her, so this was just icing on the already exhausting cake. It was a beautiful ending to a horrific nightmare.

The heat of his tongue brushed against her lips in warning, pleading for access. Sue could only comply, allowing the weight of everything to be thrust from her shoulders so she could enjoy the moment.

She let her arms wrap themselves around Jack's neck, pulling him closer, craving more contact. A simple taste of Jack Hudson just wasn't enough. She'd craved his kiss ever since Callahan & Merced and now that she'd been given the opportunity to have it again, she wasn't sure she could ever go back to not having it.

She wanted it. Fovever.

Jack smiled with manly pride as the way she held onto him as she matched everything movement of his lips and thrust of his tongue that he gave. She'd wanted this just as much as he had. He was just sorry that he'd waited so long to finally come to senses.

And he needed to tell her that.

He eased away from her lips… He _tried _to ease away from her lips…

But every time he tried, she would only press forward and silently beg for more. And she would get more—much, much more—after they talked. And why were they going to talk? Because they needed to.

"I'm sorry, Sue."


	13. Chapter Twelve

**No More Games**

**Chapter Twelve**

"_I'm sorry, Sue,"_ he said as he finally pulled his lips from hers. He didn't completely pull away from her, though. He'd only pulled just far enough away for her to read him, but not so far away that he wouldn't be able to kiss her at will.

Sue blinked up at him as she fought through the intense fog that clouded her mind. Jack's kisses were intoxicating that she'd forgotten everything around them and where they stood. Thankfully nighttime traffic was slow tonight.

"For what?" she asked once most of the fog cleared, but she couldn't stop her eyes from darting back to his lips, hoping for just one more taste.

He allowed his hands to flatten against her back and rubbed at the skin he knew was under the thickness of her jacket. She shivered in his embrace and he couldn't stop himself from smiling. "For being a bit slow on the uptake." He chuckled as her eyebrows knitted together in that adorable way they did when she was confused. "Or for just plain old being blind to what's in front of me."

Sue found herself shivering again. She could have blamed it on a cold breeze that had rushed by, but the night was surprisingly calm for a North East winter. No, instead she'd shivered because of a surprising heat. And that was the heat in his eyes.

She shook her head. "I-I don't think I understand." A lump had formed in her throat that very instant. Was he really talking about what she thought he was? She swallowed thickly as butterflies were suddenly awakened and madly began to flutter around her stomach.

Jack removed one hand from around her back and took hold of one of hers. "I'm talking about you, Sue," he whispered as he pulled her hand to his lips and placed a soft kiss on her knuckles. "I'm talking about us."

"U-us?" Why all of a sudden could she not regain control of her voice and her nerves and her… _everything_ really.

"There are a lot of things I've done throughout our past that I'm not exactly proud of. I've pushed you aside when all I wanted to do was pull you closer." There was a deep hurt in his eyes that she'd never seen before. "And I hope that you'll be able to forgive me someday."

"There's nothing to forgive." The words left her mouth before she had the chance to think about them. But as she spoke them, she'd felt like nothing could be closer to the truth. There really was nothing to forgive. It was her turn to smile at his confusion. "I understand why you did the things you did. I might not have at the time, but after I took the time to think it trough… you were really just pushing me away to keep me safe, weren't you?"

He nodded. "Yes."

A sense of calm surrounded her at that moment. She was suddenly understanding a great deal more than she had all those other times when she'd sat up late at night and questions the motives of Jack Hudson—FBI Agent. But that's not who she was looking at right now. All the pretenses of work, the façade he used while working a case was gone. She wasn't looking at Special Agent Jack Hudson. She was just looking at Jack Hudson. The _real_ Jack Hudson.

The man she loved more than life itself.

Though despite that, she couldn't help by ask, "Why?"

It was like he'd been anticipating the question and he'd taken the time she'd been using to ask it to build up some sort of inner strength he needed to get the words out. She held her breath in anticipation.

"I love you, Sue."

As much as she could have prepared herself to see his lips formed those words, she still found tears flooding her vision. She quickly blinked them away, but only more came forth. She didn't know what to say. Fortunately, she didn't have to say anything.

"I should have told you sooner, Sue. I shouldn't have wasted so much time." A frown suddenly lined around his mouth as he reflected on all of the times he could have—and most importantly _should_ have told her. There were far too many times to count. "And for that, I consider myself a coward."

"A coward? Jack…" she tried to explain, but he just shook his head.

"No, Sue. I _am_ a coward. I chose to hide behind a few rules and regulations when I should have just followed my heart. But it led me straight to you before I even realized and by that time…" He shook his head and just left his words to hang. What would he say? It had been too late? She didn't deserve to see those words on his lips.

"You're wrong, you know," she finally spoke up when he didn't say any more. He finally let her hand drop, along with his head. But she managed to raise them both so he would look her in the eye. "You are. And despite your stubborn male ego and the fact that you don't want to hear it, you _are_ wrong." Her thumb gently brushed against the area around his mouth. The one thing she hated more in the whole entire world was to see Jack Hudson sad. "You're not a coward."

"I was afraid you were going to leave me," he blurted out, the pain still evident in his eyes.

She nodded as she took in a breath. So that's what this was all about.

Smiling softly, she met his eyes with her gentle gaze. "I couldn't leave you. No matter how great some job opportunity could be, I just couldn't leave you because that would mean I would still be losing you in the end."

He shook his head in argument. "No, Sue. I'm yours, now. I have been for a long time, despite the fact that I couldn't tell you. You'll never lose me."

More tears pooled in her eyes and she could help but laugh at herself. How long ago had it been that she'd been complaining about her appearance and here she was bawling her eyes out? "Is that a promise?" was the first question she could voice.

The smile that bloomed on his features was one that made both their hearts soar. He wanted nothing more to reassure her; to take her in his arms and show her that he was never going to leave her. But instead, he shook his head. "No, Sue. I can't me a _promise_ like that." The smile was falling from her face at a rapid pace. He had to finish what he'd meant to say before he really messed things up again. "Not a promise," he quickly continued, "but a vow." A gorgeous smile blossomed on her features and his heart picked up its pace just from the sight. "I love you, Sue Thomas and I vow—with all my heart and soul—that I will never love another woman as long as I live. I want to be with you for the rest of our lives, if you'll have me, I mean."

Sue suddenly didn't know what to think. She'd seen things like this happen in movies and read them in books, but she'd never dreamed that she'd actually see the day when she saw such beautiful words come from someone who loved her and she loved in return. Was it? Could it be? "Jack… was that… did you just…" She just didn't know how to ask that question.

"Not exactly. I just want you to know my intensions. I love you and I intend to marry you one day." He'd said it again. He felt his smile grow even wider as he thought about that. After not being able to tell her his feelings for so long, he intended to tell her how much he loved her every moment of every day for the rest of their lives.

"I don't know what to say."

Relieved that he'd been able to get all of this off his chest, Jack suddenly felt like he'd returned to his old self. Tongue in cheek, he smiled down at her, his eyes twinkling in mischief. "Well, usually when something tells you that they love you, you're usually supposed to return the favor."

"Oh!" She couldn't believe she'd forgotten. She'd just been so overwhelmed by his words that returning the endearment had never crossed her mind. "I love you too, Jack." Her emotions were now becoming more troublesome. She sniffled loudly as he cradling her face in his hands. They were so loving and gentle and it just made her want to cry even harder. "I love you so much," she whispered before his lips touched hers.

The kiss was slow and gentle, offering future promises of love and happiness together, but also revealing the present feelings of that same love and happiness together.

The hand that still rested against her back rose to her hair, his fingers eager to tangle in her golden locks. But he forgot the important document he held in his hand and pulled away to figure out what he was doing with it in the first place.

"What's that?" Sue asked, holding tightly to the arm that had snaked around her waist as she turned in his embrace to see the crumpled envelope in his hand.

"I made a request a month or so ago to the Director," he told her, noticing how much his hand was shaking. But he had to remember that no matter what it said, nothing was going to change his mind. He'd finally taken the leap to get to Sue. He wasn't going to back away when he was so close to heaven. "It's about you… well, us really."

"Us?" The word gave her chills that she'd never experienced before.

"After the case with Joe Wolfe, I did a lot of… soul searching, I guess you could say. Kristen was the first woman I'd ever thought of having a life with and I'll admit that dealing with Joe brought up a great deal of memories. But that's all they were. They were memories of the life I could have had." He stopped to take in a shaky breath as the memories he faced during that case came back full force. "But as you say, God must have had other plans for me. And now I understand why."

Sue smiled. "I get that part, Jack. Really, I do, but what about the letter?"

He couldn't resist pulling her close and kissing her on the forehead. "Right to the point. I knew there was a reason I loved you so much."

"And I love the fact that you love me," she teased in return.

"Because of that case, I went to the Director and I laid my heart on the line. I told him that I'd finally realized how much I truly loved you. And I told him that nothing was going to hold me back. I wanted to be with you and no amount of bureaucracy was going to stop me this time… I told him to transfer me to another team."

"Jack, you didn't!" She didn't care how much he fought, she was not going to allow him to do that. The team just wouldn't be the same without him.

"Don't worry, sweetheart…" he paused as the endearment crossed his lips. It had been an unconscious action and yet it still felt so right. By the tentative smile that crossed her features, she seemed to enjoy it just as much. "He wouldn't accept that. He told me to give him some time so he could see what he could do to prevent that from happening."

"So now you have the answer," she pressed, urging him to open the letter and find out what it said; to find out what their future with the FBI entailed.

"Right… now I have it…" But he just couldn't bring himself to open in. "You open it," he urged as he pushed it into her hands.

Nodding, she carefully ripped open the seal and removed the slip of paper from inside. With shaking hands and nerves she hadn't realized she'd had, she carefully unfolded the letter and with her back resting against his chest, they both read it at the same time.


	14. Chapter Thirteen

**No More Games**

**Chapter Thirteen**

"Hey, Tara!"

She cringed at the sound of her name being called by that familiar voice. Or was it a shiver? She couldn't really tell and after the kiss they'd shared in the locker room, she was even more confused.

Taking in a deep breath, she put on as real of a smile as she could before turning to face him. "You're back." Surprisingly, she felt the corners of her lips turn up even more until her mouth formed a real smile.

A voice inside of her groaned.

After the "locker room incident"—as she chose to call it—she'd had a good long talk with herself. She wanted to make sure that this was not going to end up like the last time. She'd promised herself that one flash of that amazing, dimpled grin would not turn her insides to mush, make her swoon, quiver, babble; any of the things Bobby Manning usually did to her.

She swore to herself that she would not get hurt again. She would build up an emotional barrier to keep his suave and charm as far away from her emotions as possible. She made herself promise that she would not allow herself to go through the same torment she'd been through for the last few weeks.

She couldn't go through that again.

She wasn't going to.

She'd put her foot down.

No more heartbreak for her.

No siree!

She was going to stick to her plan too.

At least that's what she'd hoped would happen until she caught sight of him. His hair was ruffled from his SWAT helmet and he looked like he'd changed in a hurry.

Their gazes instantly collided and every one of those promises suddenly flew out the window.

Crap.

"Yeah, we just got back a few minutes ago, but I wanted to talk to you without anyone else around." One side of his mouth quirked up in a smirk and her heart started beating a fevered staccato.

She blinked up owlishly as she studied the way his facial features shifted when he smiled. There were times when Bobby could look so frightening and others when he looked just like he must have when he was a little boy.

She stifled the growl that wanted to escape. Darn him and his handsomeness and his perfectness and his… Aussieness!

She was never going to win the fight against him and to top it all off, he wanted to talk. That could only mean one thing and she knew she wouldn't be able to survive if she had to go through the misery of losing him again. But, still, she agreed to talk to him!

"Um, o-okay." Her reply came out in a choke. Her body immediately started to tremble and no matter what she did, she couldn't make it stop.

Okay, she would talk to him, but there was no way she was going to let herself cry over him again. She was definitely putting her foot down about that.

That inner voice snorted at her in disbelief.

Why did she have the feeling that tonight was going to be the perfect night to try that new microwavable molten lava cake she'd picked up while grocery shopping the other day?

The building was most deserted, except for a few teams working 24/7s, but Bobby couldn't stop himself from looking around hesitantly before motioning to the room behind her. "Do you mind?"

She didn't acknowledge him because she knew if she did, then there would be no stopping the words that would flow from her mouth; all of them self-incriminating. And the last thing she really wanted to do was embarrass herself any more than was necessary. She only walked into the room and turned on the light.

Tara instantly recognized the room as the one they'd been in only hours before. It had been the same one that Bobby had gone to brood over the letters his sister had given him. The same one that she'd fallen even more in love with him.

Shaking her head at herself, she wrapped her arms around herself in case she felt like she was going to fall apart at the seams.

She was pathetic.

She couldn't believe that she was allowing one man—one out of how many billion—to turn her back into a the simpering little geek she'd been all her life. She'd moved to DC to put that part of her life behind her, but like a bad fungus it always seemed to crop up again.

Bobby closed the door behind him and leaned casually against it. He looked much different than before—better—though he still wasn't completely himself. It seemed easier for him to smile now that his sister was tucked safely away at home, where she belonged. His usual boyish charm had definitely returned. When he smiled, Tara could clearly see his dimples, even if the smile didn't yet reach his eyes.

Her heart gave a flutter.

Those eyes.

The way he was looking at her…

She suddenly felt the need to fidget. She tucked a few loose strands of hair behind her ears. She ran her hands down the front of her blouse to erase the obvious wrinkles it had earned from a long workday. She scratched her nose and wished she'd thought enough ahead to at least fix her makeup.

Throughout all that, though, Bobby's gaze never wavered. It continued to bore into her, fanning flames of heat she hadn't even realized had been ignited.

"How's Shannon?" she felt herself blurt out and then rolled her eyes at herself for asking such an inane question.

Bobby's sigh was heavy. It was going to take him a while to get past this and Tara couldn't really blame him. "It's going to take a while, but she'll be okay. I hope."

"Well, with a big brother like you there to help her through it, I have the feeling that she'll be back to her old self in no time." She blushed at her own comment and for some reason couldn't meet him in the eye until she heard him chuckle.

He pushed away from the door and picked up a discarded pen from the table. He began tapping it against the palm of his hand while he took the time to build up the courage to say something. "I was thinking of checking up on her tomorrow."

Tara smiled as she tried to look casual while she perched herself on the edge of the table. Her insides had been going crazy when she was across the room, but now that he was even closer, her heart had begun to dance the rumba with her stomach. "I'm sure she'd like that," she offered as calmly as she could manage.

"Would you go with me?"

She blinked once, twice, and once again before his question finally registered in her brain. "Me?" was all she could bring herself to ask, despite the dozens of questions freshly swimming through her mind.

His eyes sparkled as his smile widened. "Yeah. You," was his simple answer.

"Not that I'm not flattered, but why would you want me to go with you?" She just couldn't wrap her head around the idea. She was obviously missing something.

A tinge of pink appeared at the tips of his ears. "She wants to meet you," he admitted bashfully.

Tara didn't think it was possible, but she was even more confused than she had been a second ago. "Why?"

He shrugged as he rubbed at the base of his neck in embarrassment. He could feel the heat flaming in his cheeks. "I might have mentioned you once or twice in passing," he lied. He didn't realize that he did it, but he apparently talked about Tara ever chance he got and Shannon had basically threatened to beat him over the head with her purse if he mentioned her one more time. Then, she'd asked to meet her.

One of Tara's eyebrows rose in surprise. Heat flooded her face and she couldn't look him directly in the eye. "You talk about me?" she asked.

He shrugged, "Seems like it."

Eyes wide, she gathered up enough courage to finally look at him. "Why?" Of all the intelligent, beautiful women Bobby was surrounded be, he chose to talk about her? Hope suddenly blossomed in her chest. Could this mean that he actually had feelings for her? That he hadn't kissed her in the locker room this afternoon just because he felt lost and confused?

His large shoulders shuddered as he took in a calming breath. There was just something about Tara that seemed to knock him off kilter. And the way she was perched on that table made breathing much too difficult than normal. "Why wouldn't I, Luv?" he asked simply, despite the fevered rhythm his heart was beating against his ribcage.

"But… Well… I …. Huh?" Tara floundered around for the perfect response, yet she couldn't find one.

Bobby chuckled at her confounded expression. He could always rely on Tara to make him smile. He loved that about her—among other things. And suddenly he felt he couldn't keep that fact to himself anymore.

Sobering, he took a seat beside her on the table. "But, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about."

She blinked up at him, surprised by his sudden change in demeanor. "It's not?"

He shook his head as he looked her square in the eye. "I'm sorry, Tara. I acted like a drongo." He knew he didn't have to elaborate about what he was talking about. He could see in her eyes that she knew exactly what he was doing. "I acted stupidly that night and I wounded our friendship in the process."

Shaking her head, Tara tried to reassure him, "Bobby, we've already talked about this," but he wouldn't hear it.

"I don't regret my actions, Luv," he admitted and that surprised her. Not that he was admitting it, but because he actually _didn't_ regret kissing her. "The only regret I have of that week… is hurting you."

Tara's head hurt. And it was partly because of the long hours behind them, though mostly of the bad memories he was dredging up. Pulling her gaze away from his, she wrapped her arms around herself and crossed her legs at the ankles. It caused just enough space between them and that was what she needed right now. "What do you want me to say?"

He blew out a breath as he looked at her. The pain she'd been put through because of him was evident on her features and he wanted to help to make it go away. He just wasn't sure how. "I don't know. I just know that I don't want to lose you as a friend."

She looked up at him again. "Is that all?" She'd had a different outcome to this scenario running through her mind, and this was far from it. She'd expected her heart to be fluttering like a butterfly's wings, not sinking like a boulder.

He shook his head and reached out to sweep the hair out of her eyes. "No. It's not. But it's a start."

Why all of a sudden did she feel like she wanted to cry? "To what?" she asked incredulously. She'd managed to shield her heart from Bobby Manning for weeks and now he'd just ripped open an old wound that she'd hoped would remain closed forever. What was this a start to? The end!

"I'm hoping it's a start to a new beginning for us, Tara. I've made mistakes, but I plan to make up for them. I want there to be something more between us, but I know I have a great deal to fix before I can completely have your trust again."

Tears pooled at her eyes, but the boulder had shrunk down to a nicely-sized rock. "Bobby, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying… that maybe we could take things slow. Start with a few dinner dates during the week, maybe a night out on the town on the weekends?"

Was he…

Did he…

Did she…

"Dates?" she asked, her hope finally rising.

He shrugged his shoulders, the sparkle in her eyes giving him hope. "Yeah. If you don't mind, I'd like for us to start over. To do things right this time around."

Tara smiled as she was so overcome with joy. "Well, how could a girl turn down an offer like that?"

"Really?" He was shocked. Had she really just said yes?

Her head quickly bobbed up and down. "I'd really like that."

"Whoo-hoo!" he cheered as he jumped up from the table. Without thinking, he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. For a moment, he'd expected her to push him away, saying that kissing was definitely not the way to start off on the right foot. But as his lips worked smoothly against hers, he was greeted by the sweetest of moans. Smiling against her lips, he delved in for more.


	15. Epilogue

**No More Games**

**Epilogue**

Lucy was surprised by the lack of noise as she arrived back at the bullpen, her arms laden with bags full of food. Peering over the top of one of the bags, she was also surprised by the lack of people. "Where is everybody?" she asked aloud.

"D headed upstairs to speak to the AD about something," Myles spoke up from behind her, frightening her to the point that she almost dropped her bags. He quickly leaned in to catch the one that was just about to slip from her grasp. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," he apologized with an amused grin as he walked over to her desk and set the bag down.

"It's okay. Just don't do it again," she warned with a faux-menacing look as she set her bag down as well.

"I'll be sure to keep my distance," he teased, his cool blue eyes staring down at her.

But why was he doing that? Did she have something in her teeth? Couldn't be. She'd have to have dinner first.

Feeling uncomfortable, she skirted around him and began unpacking some of the food. At least then she would have to look at him. "What about Tara and Bobby? Jack and Sue?"

He shrugged as he leaned against the corner of her desk and just watched her. He liked watching her. "I haven't seen Bobby since we got back and Tara went looking for him."

Lucy's ears perked up at that statement. "Really?" she asked, eager for more information. She'd sense that something had been going on between those two lately and she'd been oh, so eager to learn just a little bit more.

"Reel in your receptors, there, Luce," he warned.

"But they make such a cute couple."

He rolled his eyes at her and her constant meddling. It was her goal in life to see everyone around her happy and in love. He understood that, really he did. He just wished she would turn off her matchmaking radar for five minutes. "Well, that may be so, but the last thing they need is for you to interfere."

"But…" she tried to explain, despite the fact that Myles didn't want to hear it.

"Not that they wouldn't appreciate it, I'm sure. It's just that you should let them take it at their own pace and that's only _if_ there is something going on between them, which I'm not completely convinced that there is."

"You're just blind to the obvious, Myles," she informed him while batting her eyelashes playfully. Why she did it, she wasn't completely sure. Flirting with Myles was always difficult, but… wait… was that what she was doing? Flirting with Myles? It had been so long that she'd forgotten what it felt like.

"Hey, I was at least obvious to Sweet Sue and Sir Jack," he pointed out as he helped to unpack the rest of the food.

"Yeah, well, I'm beginning to think that they've reached a dead end." She sighed heavily and plopped down in her chair.

"Well, if that's the way you feel about it, it's a shame you weren't there to see them making out in the bank's parking lot."

"What?" she crowed, jumping right back up to her feet.

"What's going on?" Tara asked as she and Bobby joined them.

Walking over to her petite friend, Lucy looked her square in the eye. "Did you know that Jack and Sue were making out?"

"What again?" Bobby chuckled, looking around the room for the aforementioned couple, but caught no sight of them.

"You knew?" she asked Bobby. He nodded. Throwing up her hands in disgust, she turned and walked right back to her chair. "I miss everything."

"I wouldn't be too worried, Luce," Bobby said while he went searching through the column of takeout boxes piled up on her desk.

"Yeah, why?"

"With the way things played out tonight, I really don't think that's going to be the last time. Right D?" he asked the superior agent—who just walked in—as he started digging into his food. Tara whacked him with the back of her hand. "What?"

"This is still Sue's 'welcome back' dinner. It might be a good idea to wait until she gets here to actually start eating."

"I'm hungry," he complained.

"You're always hungry," she countered with a roll of her eyes.

Leaning down, he made sure his lips were close enough for so only she could hear. "Yeah, but sometimes it's not just food I'm hungry for." He grinned triumphantly as he watched Tara's cheeks turn bright red at that statement and didn't say anything more.

Totally oblivious to Tara and Bobby's exchange, Lucy looked up at D with wide eyes. "D?"

He held his hands up in defense. "I cannot confirm or deny anything. Although, the AD did look quite smug when he handed me that letter to give to Jack," he added with a smirk. That might have been one thing he forgot to mention to Jack. He smiled to himself with a chuckle. Okay, so he didn't actually forget. It was more fun for him to see the other man squirm just a little bit when it came to love. God knows how long it's taken them to come to this point. A little more tension wasn't going to hurt him.

It might make him explode though.

"And just so you know, I saw them getting off the elevator on my way in, so not a word." He looked pointedly to the entire team, making sure they understood.

The moment D picked up his carton of food, Jack and Sue entered the bullpen, beaming smiles plastered on their faces.

"What are you guys doing here?" Sue asked as she saw all of her friends gathered together.

"Since we still owe you dinner and our reservations have kind of flown out the window, we thought we would bring your welcome back dinner to you," Tara announced as she handed Sue her tray of food.

"Chinese?" Jack asked skeptically as he peered inside the tray he was handed.

"I wouldn't complain, Jack. It was either this or that Polish place around the block," Myles informed him as he picked up a plastic fork from the pile on Lucy's desk. "I don't know about you, but I'm not exactly in the mood for a golumpki¹… whatever that is."

"It's great," Sue said, gratefully, tears filling her eyes. Even after all the years, the fact that her friends would go through so much trouble to make her happy overwhelmed her.

"It's the least we could do, Sheila," Bobby shrugged.

"After all, you are a vital part of this team," D added with his usual heartwarming smile.

Sue felt like she was about to cry again. "I don't know what to say."

"I think I do," Jack said, his eyes settling on her. They were warm and inviting with that special spark of excitement in them that she loved so much. "Welcome back Sue," he spoke huskily, asking her a silent question. She smiled up at him and gave a nod. It was time for them to share their news. "And I have one other thing to say… well, really, _we _have one other thing to say."

The looks they received from the others were ones of anticipation. It was like they already knew what he was about to share. Too bad it wasn't what they were thinking. Well, not exactly, anyway.

"A month or so ago, I realized something. I realized that Sue meant more to me than my own life." He smiled as Lucy gave a squeal of joy. "So I talked to the Director and told him that nothing would keep me away from Sue. That I would gladly choose her over the job."

"He didn't agree to it, did he mate?" Bobby asked, concern laced in his tone. He and Jack had worked together for so long that he couldn't imagine his best mate not being there with him anymore.

Jack shook his head. "No. He didn't. He wanted me to give him some time to think up an alternative. His answer was in the letter that D gave me." He removed it from the inside pocket of his jacket and waved it in front of their friends.

"So, he said you two are allowed to date now, right?" Lucy asked as her foot shook with excitement.

"Not exactly," Sue said, hating the fact that she had to ruin Lucy's joy.

"You're kidding me," Myles blurted out, outraged that the Director couldn't bend the rules for two people who couldn't deserve it more.

Still, Sue continued to smile and Jack continued to grin at her like a he'd finally gotten his wish. "Sorry Myles. But it's not really up to the Director anymore."

"So, then who?" Tara asked.

Jack smiled as he wrapped his arm around the love of his life's shoulder. "I think you should ask our unit's new supervisor," he grinned, watching their friend's faces as they turned even more confused. His gaze shifted to one in particular. "D?"

Myles, Tara, Lucy and Bobby all turned to look at D whose grin was wide and his eyes sparkling. "The title doesn't officially kick in until Monday," he told them with a shrug of his shoulders. They could celebrate his achievement later. Today's focus was on Jack and Sue. He smiled at them, his eyes soft and meaningful. "You'd better treat her right."

Jack smiled at D's protectiveness. "That won't be a problem, D," he said, looking down at the woman in his embrace and ever so gently, lowering his lips to hers. He'd promised both himself and her that he wouldn't be playing anymore games with Sue's heart. And that's just what he intended to do. Forever.

**The End**.

**Author's Note:**_ I just wanted to send a shout-out to all my readers. Thank you for enjoying the ride I've taken you on and for the comments you left. Each one was appreciated. I hope to see you all in my next story. Linny_


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